Phillies=Underdogs

Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist

Posted:
Monday, October 20, 2008, 8:28 AM

The Phillies are likely to be underdogs here. That's fine.

But it could have been worse.

This is the way I figure it: had the Red Sox come back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Rays, the Phillies would have been facing a runaway steamroller with winning experience and a winning pedigree. To me, that would have been the worst case.

Now, think about the Rays. Through the first couple of games of the series against Boston, they looked frightening. Ican remember sitting in the dugout in Dodger Stadium and Charlie Manuel looking over and saying, "How about those Rays?" And me replying, "I think they scored four more runs while I was eating breakfast this morning." At which point, Manuel caught himself and said, "I'm not talking about them. I've been talking about us, and one game at a time, and I'm sticking with that."

Since then, the Rays have stopped murdering opposing pitching. They also had the one epic collapse in their bullpen and another game where they probably wanted more. Their are vulnerabilities. And there is no winning history.

So, yes, they're likely favored and should be. But there are areas the Phillies can probe. That's all.

Rich Hofmann arrived at the Daily News in 1980 for a job whose status was officially designated as "full-time, temporary." A senior at Penn at the time, he was hired to fill in on the copy desk during a staff illness. The notion of him covering the Eagles or being a columnist did not exist in anyone's imagination. It was supposed to be six weeks and out, but he never left. It is only one of the reasons why so many people have concerns about him as a potential house guest. Rich has blogged the postseasons of the Flyers and Eagles. E-mail Rich at hofmanr@phillynews.com
Reach Rich at hofmanr@phillynews.com.